College Sports Blog

ATLANTA – Syracuse’s famous zone defense never appeared to rattle Michigan Saturday night. The Wolverines used a balanced scoring attack, which included six players with at least six points, to outlast the Orange, 61-56, in the NCAA Tournament semifinals at the Georgia Dome.

Here are my thoughts on how Michigan was able to reach the national title game for the first time since 1993.

1.) Trey Burke is the best college basketball player in the country and Michigan wouldn’t have reached the Final Four without him. But the Wolverines also aren’t in Atlanta right now without Mitch McGary. The 6-10, 250-pound freshman power forward had seven double-digit scoring games during the regular season. He has five in the tournament. And his worth goes far beyond his point-totals. Facing Syracuse’s daunting 2-3 zone, McGary was often in the middle, if not looking for his shot, finding open teammates. The result: a team-high six assists. McGary doesn’t have many weaknesses in his game and the scary part for his opponents is that he’s probably going to get better.

“The best is yet to come,” Michigan coach John Beilein said early Sunday morning. “He continues to practice hard. He continues to study the game. He’s got, as I’ve said several times, a high ceiling to his overall game.”

2.) So much for thinking top players have to play well in big games for their teams to have success. Similar to what the Louisville starting guards did the game before, Michigan’s starting backcourt of Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. had a difficult time doing what they do best, scoring the basketball. And like Louisville, Michigan still won. Burke and Hardaway combined for 20 points – about 14 under their average – on 5-of-24 shooting. But neither player seemed too concerned as they answered questions with ear-to-ear smiles after the game. Louisville is the best team in the tournament. If Michigan is going to cut down the nets, Burke or Hardaway, if not both, will need to find their shooting touch by Monday night.

3.) At times, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is easily annoyed by media members after victories. So you can imagine how he can get after losses. Then multiply that a few times for a press conference after a season-ending defeat. The first question for Boeheim after Saturday night’s loss was about his coaching future. The Syracuse coach quickly became aggravated.

Boeheim: “I’m not going to answer that question unless you ask every coach that question. … I’ve never indicated at any time that I’m not coming back next year.”

After the reporter exited, Boeheim suggested that the reporter didn’t like the answer and ran away. When the reporter returned, Boeheim apologized.

“It wasn’t you,” he said. “Anybody that asked that question, I would have been mad.”

Needless to say, it was entertaining to watch the exchange up close.

4.) Syracuse lost because it didn’t play anywhere near its best basketball. The Wolverines’ patience against the zone in the first half and effectiveness in the open floor contributed to that greatly. Just playing OK wasn’t going to cut it for the Orange on this night. They needed to be almost at their best. Five turnovers and two points from starting point guard and probable NBA lottery pick Michael Carter-Williams wasn’t going to get it done. Neither was the team shooting 3-of-14 from three. Boeheim is one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time. He knows what good basketball looks like. The following answer he gave early Sunday morning sums up this year’s Syracuse team.

“We’ve got some flaws,” he said. “We’re not a great shooting team. We haven’t been. We’re one of the worst shooting teams in our conference. But we’ve dug in there, hung in there, we’ve battled, played defense all year long, and really worked to try to get better.

“What they’ve accomplished, I think, is incredible this year.”

5.) The Big Ten and Big East were the two best basketball conferences this season so it’s fitting that they each have a representative in Monday’s national championship game. Louisville is the best team in college hoops and Michigan is the hottest team in the tournament. Louisville hasn’t lost a game since Feb. 9 and Michigan hasn’t lost a game to a non-conference opponent (18-0). To add some icing to Monday’s cake, the venue should have an above average title-game atmosphere. Of the 75,350 in attendance Saturday night, the Cardinals and Wolverines had the best fan support.

So who wins Monday night? I’m going with Michigan. Since watching Burke bury that last-second three-pointer from what seemed like the Cowboys Stadium parking lot against Kansas I’ve felt the Wolverines were destined to win it all. That shot might’ve only forced overtime but I think it took a huge load off the team’s shoulders. Michigan is playing with almost nothing to lose. Louisville doesn’t have that luxury. If the Cardinals don’t win it all, this season was a disappointment. The Wolverines have already gone further than most expected.

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